Celtic Cross and Timing

[Floss]

Hi all! For those of you who use the Celtic Cross spread, what time frames do you usually use for the near future position, and also the final card 10 outcome? The way I lay the spread is thus:


3 10 (outcome)

5 1&2 6 (near
future) 9
4
8

7

I've never really used a specific timing method, tend to fly by the seat of my pants a bit. Is there a general consensus? Is it by gut feel for you? The other idea I'm having is to "talk" to my deck as if it were a person, and 'negotiate' a more precise method or a meaning for the timing and see how that works. Whaddayathink people?

 

[Floss]

woops ...

Sorry - numbers all over the place above! My near future card is no 6, to the right of central issue 1&2, and obviously outcome is 10 at the end.

 

[balenciaga]

I do a cc everyday, so 6 and 10 positions are possible outcomes for either that day or definitely that week
But I am sure if you do not do a cc very often, it might be up to 3 months or so. That is what I have read here on AT, I think.

 

[TarotDreamer]

My method of timing

Floss,
I use the Celtic Cross regularly when doing readings. I used to use cards 6 and 10 for timing when I first used the spread. I now use card 5 instead of 6 as the near future, with card 10 remaining as the outcome. The change came about from reading Arlene Tognetti's books on Tarot. Since card 4 for me represents the past, I use that card as a timing element as well. It is a great way of validating the past for the person you are reading for.
My method of timing is as follows:
Swords: hours to days
Wands: days to weeks
Cups: weeks to months
Pentacles: months to years
With the minors, I just use the number on the card (for example, the 10 of Cups in the near future would represent 10 weeks; in the outcome, 10 months).
A Major Arcana card can represent timing, if it has an astrological sign association (for instance, the Hierophant being Taurus, would suggest a period of time between the end of April through the middle of May). The Fool can suggest a period of 12 months.
The same goes for the Court Cards; I have assigned each an astrological sign, and use that as a timing device (all but the pages).
Aces, for me, can represent seasons. Ace of Wands is spring (months of March, April, and May); Ace of Cups is summer (June, July, and August); Ace of Swords is autumn (September, October, and November); and Ace of Pentacles is winter (December, January, and February).
I know that there are other methods of timing out there, but this is the method that has consistently worked for me.

James

 

[TarotDreamer]

Something else to consider...

Floss,
Just wanted to give you something else to think about. If you make the timing a part of the question, it will be built into the reading already.
For instance, today I did a Celtic Cross Spread with my new Psychic Tarot Oracle. I asked the question, "What do I need to know about my life in 2009?" The question puts a year as the timing. So card 5, for me, would be the midpoint of the year, with card 10 being the year's end.
In the reading, 4 out of the 10 cards were Majors, so I did another spread with the Majors only, as this suggested that 2009 would prove to be a significant year for me. When using the Majors, card 5 was Triumph (the Chariot), suggesting a time period of late June through mid-July (Cancer). Card 10 was New Beginnings (the Fool), which told me the outcome would be carried over into the next year (2010).

James

 

[Floss]

balenciaga and Tarotdreamer,

Thanks so much for your posts! It's more appropriate for me to go for the longer time frames as I use the CC a lot, but read for others almost every day. I did ask querents today how long ahead they wanted to look, and interpreted accordingly. My feeling is to find a method of communication with my deck specifically around this and see what happens. I guess it gets back to 'what's in my mind around my communication with the cards and what 'we' decide will work. I will try some of your suggestions Tarotdreamer and see how I go - many thanks!

 

[TarotDreamer]

Floss,
Good luck with the process. I like how you refer to "we," meaning you and your cards. You really are building a relationship with them, so to speak, and I like that you are accounting for that. Continue the dialogue with your cards, and they will always tell you what you need to know.
The timing process is no different. My method, as I said before, works for me. You will find the method that works for you.
I look forward to hearing about your results, as some point "in time."

Best to you,
James

 

[Floss]

Thanks James - I'll keep you 'posted'!

 

[nisaba]

I usually just chat abouut the cards and see what I say instinctively about time. If I don't say anything or I feel blocked regarding time, I pick up my trusty copy of the Bolognese tarot, which does nothing else, and get the client to chuffle and cut. The card it cuts at is always accurate.

coins = years.
cups = months.
swords = weeks.
Wands = days.
Pip cards are as numbered. PAges are 11, Knights 12, Wueens 13, kings 14.

This allows for a little overlap. That the deck is *good* at timings I know because the frequency with which clients pull a Major Arcana card is too low to be in keeping with statistical possibility. And when a Major Arcana card is pulled. it tells the querent that the timing i still up in the air, it depends entirely on when the energy of that card has been dealt with.

A funny example happened just yesterday. I'm not breaching client-reader confidentiality because I am naming no names, and I'm not giving the nature of the situation; but one of yesterday's clients had a teenage son with legal problems, and the Justice card was sitting right in front of us to indicate this. the client, a middle-aged woman, asked me when she'd be able to move on with her plans to do a certain something, and I had no idea at all, so I got her to shuffle and cut. Well, the Justice card came out aghain! The deck was telling me that the mother wouldn't be able to get on with her own plans until after the son's legal situation was resolved properly, one way of the other, and that might take weeks or it might take years, depending on the choices of other people than her.

If you;re going to train up a deck to do timings like that, I'd recommend a separate deck to the one ytou do the main reading with, and possibly a completely different style of deck to the kinds that usually appeal to you. And plain pip cards are appropriate.

 

[Floss]

Hi Nisaba, welcome!

Is the Bolognese a Tarocchino deck? These decks are missing pips 1-5 aren't they? How would this work with timing?

BTW, great idea to 'work up' a deck to use for timing only if it's not clear in the main reading.